bruceb@iddic.UUCP (08/11/84)
Well I got my private pilot's license last week so I would like to thank all those people who responded to my request on information concerning flight examiners. The information was helpful and allowed me to go into the exam with a little more confidence than I would have had without the information. I ran into a problem that other student pilots might want to be aware of. My CFI has been in the business for about twenty years ( his main line of work was an engineer for Tektronix ) and therefore was of the less "by the book" variety than the CFI who does it for a living. When I went to the examiner with all of my logs, written exam scores, etcetera, he told me that I didn't have the proper endorsements for him to allow me to take him up for the exam. My instructor wrote that I had met all the requirements designated in FAR 61.103 - 61.108. 61.103 deals with being at least 17 and so on and 61.108 deals with pilots based on small islands ( I am in Portland, Oregon ). He didn't specifically enter a note in the log book that I had received instruction within the last 30 days specifically for the flight exam ( the log did show all instruction flying time and I had only been taking lessons for about 70 days ). In short, I had extraneous material in my endorsement and other things which were not spelled out to the examiners satisfaction. Once I got the required endorsements, he was too busy the rest of the day to see me. I got a list of examiners from the local GADO office and just kept calling until I found one available that afternoon. He was at an airport about 20 miles away so I flew over and met him. Things couldn't have gone smoother. "Hello, you must be Bruce. I know how nervous you can get on something like this so let's make this as informal as possible. You can call me Emerest." Needless to say, this put me at ease and everything went smoothly. I guess what I want to say is MAKE SURE YOUR PAPERWORK IS IN ORDER!! The examiner was only following the directive of FAA and covering his ass. It is nice to have a pilot's license and the Oregon weather has been especially nice this summer. Today is the 41st day without rain!! Today is my last day at Tektronix. I am going to go to Graduate School at the University of Minnesota. Once again,thanks to those people who sent me advice on the exam. Bruce A. Bernhardt tektronix!spy!bruceb